In 1982, Samantha Smith, a 10 year old American girl from Maine, wrote a letter to the new leader of the USSR, Yuri Andropov, asking him why he wanted to conquer the world, and could we please have peace instead
Yuri responded, and invited her to visit the USSR
she visited, and by all accounts had a great time
sadly, Samantha’s promising life ended tragically early. 3 years later, she, her father and several other passengers died in a small plane crash washingtonpost.com/archive/politi…
the soviets mourned her death - they named a mountain after her, and an asteroid, amongst other things
messages of condolences from both Reagan and Gorbachev were read at her funeral
Samantha believed that we are not strangers, but neighbors. Her spirit lives on in those of us who feel the same. 💐
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